Why a zoo dissected Marius the giraffe for kids

(Images&colon; Kasper Palsnov/AFP/Getty)

If you don’t want to know what the inside of a giraffe looks like, look away now. Marius, an 18-month-old male from Copenhagen Zoo, was put down on Sunday. Zookeepers then dissected Marius in front of cameras and an audience, allowing people to see giraffe anatomy first hand.

The decision to kill Marius caused a storm of protest from animal rights organisations, but the zoo points out that it is following the rules of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, which aim to reduce inbreeding.

“This giraffe’s genes are well represented in the breeding programme and there is no place for the giraffe in the zoo’s giraffe herd, ” says Bengt Holst, scientific director of the zoo.

“This is a situation that we know from other group animals that breed well. When breeding success increases it is sometimes necessary to euthanise.”

Marius was killed using a bolt gun – commonly used on other large animals, such as cows – and his remains fed to lions and other carnivores. The zoo turned the giraffe’s demise into a learning opportunity by dissecting it in front of visitors.

“I’m actually proud because I think we have given children a huge understanding of the anatomy of a giraffe that they wouldn’t have had from watching a giraffe in a photo,” zoo spokesperson Tobias Stenbaek Bro told Associated Press.